National Retail Marketing Case Competition

National Retail Marketing Case Competition Results

The 2013 National Retail Marketing Case Competition (NRMCC) was co-sponsored by the Kelley School of Business Center for Education and Research in Retailing, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Toys-R-Us and Rapp Inc.

Here is what the sponsors had to say about the Competition:

"I was extremely impressed with the caliber of strategic thinking and creative solutions that the teams put forward. The innovation and creativity displayed was inspiring and makes me excited to see the future impact these teams will have on the retail landscape in the very near future."

—Skip Dampier, SVP - Creative Architect, RAPP

"The National Retail Marketing Case Competition at Indiana University was Dick’s Sporting Goods’ first time participating and sponsoring a collegiate case competition. Theresa Williams and all those on her team did an amazing job of eliciting a high level of participation from various stakeholders including employers, faculty and students throughout the entire competition. This competition highlighted the strategic challenges and issues faced by today’s business leaders. I was highly impressed by students’ business acumen and the manner in which they creatively formulated strategic, action-oriented business recommendations. Their level of professionalism, excellent communication skills and ability to work cohesively as a team bode well for future business recruiters."

HOW: Four undergraduate student teams comprised of four students from their institution, plus students assigned from the IU Graphic Design Department as creative consultants competed for a cash prize. University teams competed in the competition by invitation from the CERR.

Co-sponsors provided hotel accommodations, a formal reception, dinner, and lunch for all students and faculty competing in the NRMCC. Faculty advisors observed their team meetings and presentation during the competition, and could discuss case strategies with their students prior to arriving to the competition.

THE CASE: Case materials were authored by the Kelley CERR director and distributed to all teams by January 2013, allowing six-and-a-half weeks to prepare case strategies. For purposes of creative interface, a creative brief was due in February to the assigned IU Graphic Design students, followed by opportunities for the teams to interface via electronic communication tools to discuss the creative elements of the team’s marketing strategy. In the case, each team represented a large retail store chain that is launching a new private brand. While addressing the business problem for this case, teams included elements of market research, target market engagement, brand strategy, brand logo and tag line, in-store and online merchandising considerations, product packaging, pricing strategy, and financials outcome projections.

THE JUDGES: Representatives from Toys-R-Us, Dick’s, Rapp Inc., and Kelley School of Business Department of Communications judged the competition.

CASE EXPERIENCE and COMPETITION AWARDS RESUTS: Student teams, faculty, and judges arrived on the IU campus on Friday evening to attend a reception and dinner at the Indiana Memorial Union. Students from the Kelley Retail Association (KRA) and faculty from the Kelley Center for Education and Research in Retailing greeted and hosted the evening’s activities. Prior to dinner, each of the guest judges offered a few words of welcome and thoughts regarding the competition. Following dinner, all participants met in the Kelley School competition presentation room to become acquainted with the room setup and to review the agenda for the next day of competition.

The next morning teams were welcomed at the Kelley School and were greeted by their individual KRA student host. Each team was provided a private meeting room to rehearse and enjoy light snacks until their scheduled presentation. The case competition began in the morning and continued until noon with each team presenting their case to the panel of executive judges from Toys-R-Us, Dicks Sporting Goods, and Rapp Inc. At the conclusion of the competition (plus one hour for the judges to confer) the awards were announced as follows:

Kelley School of Business Senior Team, Indiana University won first place -$2,625

Kelley School of Business Freshman Team, Indiana University took second place - $1,750

Penn State University came in third place - $1,000

The University of Arkansas placed fourth - $760

The case competition concluded with team photographs and a lunch celebration at the Tudor Room, IU Memorial Union.